Call me jingoistic, but didn’t a massive and decades-long U.S. military presence also have something to do with this?

How much credibility does the Nobel Committee have left, exactly?

Mired in Crisis, European Union Wins Nobel Peace Prize

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded its 2012 peace prize on Friday to the 27-nation European Union, lauding its role over six decades in building peace and reconciliation among enemies who fought Europe’s bloodiest wars, even as the Continent wrestles with economic strife that threatens its cohesion and future.

…In announcing the award, Mr. Jagland described it as a signal focusing on the union’s historical role binding France and Germany together after World War II and its perceived impact in spreading reconciliation and democracy beyond the Iron Curtain that once divided Europe and on to the Balkans. “The stabilizing part played by the E.U. has helped to transform most of Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace,” he said.

Does anybody ever nominate the U.S. military for the Nobel Prize? I think maybe we ought to do that.